


His Flower

by sarahp5221



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Arkham Asylum, Batman - Freeform, Cameron Monaghan - Freeform, F/M, Gotham, Holland Roden - Freeform, Jim Gordon - Freeform, OC, Tabitha Galavan - Freeform, aaron helzinger - Freeform, arnold dobkins - Freeform, dccomics - Freeform, highschool, robert greenword, theo galavan - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:49:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 15,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27049732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahp5221/pseuds/sarahp5221
Summary: An introvert artistic girl gets wrapped up in the mess of a psychotic inmate
Relationships: Jerome Valeska/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is also on my Wattpad if you'd rather read there. The link is attached. 
> 
> https://www.wattpad.com/story/135134085-his-flower

"Draw me a picture." Rose said those words often. Whenever she went into Arkham Asylum for her personal project, she would always ask the inmates to draw her a picture. Those pictures she would then take to her psychology and sociology teacher, so she could then learn more about the brains on the inmates. 

Something about humans fascinated Rose Galavan. Especially those residing at Arkham Asylum. She wanted to know more about the inmates. What made them happy, what went on in their brains, their dreams, their fears. She hoped that with one of the inmates, she would figure out what made them snap just by their drawings. 

Art therapy is what she did with the inmates. It helped her since she was also a talented artist. She would sometimes draw with the inmates or take the quiet time to work on homework. She wouldn't watch the inmates draw. She would hate it when her uncle or her aunt would watch her draw even if they were in the doorway of her room. 

The girl's favorite thing to do when she was alone in her room: look at the drawings of the inmates. They'd all range in skills, from childish scribbles to realistic drawings of a talented artist. The pictures themselves would be all over the place, but that's what Rose loved about. Always asking "why? Why did they draw this?" whenever she analyzed the pictures.

*** 

Rose silently watched as Theo went through the files of the inmates that were on her desk. She didn't know what exactly to do or even why he was going through the files. Theo hardly told her much about his plans on how he was going to gain Gotham. 

"That's all Rose." Theo told her before walking out of her bedroom. 

Rose stared at the doorway in confusion before hopping off of her bed and walking down the hallway. She quietly descended the stairs to see dimmed lights in their living room area. 

"This is a glass jar inside of it is a hairy spider, a tarantula I guess. I'm no expert." Rose watched from the stairs as Theo kept talking, most likely helping his own chance of getting Gotham for himself. He explained what he would do with the spider and possibly kill the mayor with it, saying that would be choice A

"Choice B," The man continues after pausing briefly. "I open the hatch, you speak to your lovely secretary Maggie on the telephone and tell you've run away with some woman, you'll be sending written instructions shortly." Theo explained the more life saving choice. "So which is it? Choice A or Choice B?" 

"Choice B please." Mayor James answered quickly with a shaking voice. "Please choice B." 

"The telephone," Rose went up a couple stairs, hiding herself from Theo as he walked over to the frightened mayor. "Course. It's human nature." He opened up the front of the box, letting Mayor James see what really was in front of him and who he was talking with. 

Rose headed back up the stairs to the safety of her room as Theo continued his talk with the frightened mayor. She quietly shut the door behind her before sitting down on her black and white comforter. She stared at her off tinted white carpet wondering herself what Theo had in mind. 

***

The ginger hair girl had a small smile on her face as she walked through the doors of Arkham Asylum. 

"Afternoon Miss. Galavan." The front desk officer greeted Rose. The girl gave a smile in return before she kept walking down the hallway, towards the rec room where the inmates were waiting for her. 

"Afternoon." Rose greeted them with a smile as she walked to a small table that was guarded by more officers. Out of her bag that she was carrying, she pulled out paper and pencils before walking around the rec room, giving each inmate a paper and a pencil. "Any suggestions for today's muse?" She asked looking around the room for raised hands. 

"Something that makes us happy!" An inmate yelled while raising their hand. 

Rose thought for a moment, debating whether or not to have thee inmates to draw something that made them happy. "That's a good idea." She agreed, making the inmate feel proud about their suggestion. "You'll be tapping into happy moments of anytime in your life and reminiscing those moments." She explained what they should be doing. "You'll also be thinking about something else other than negative moments or emotions." She stood at her small guarded table and nodded at the inmates, encouraging them to start drawing. 

She had sat down at the table and pulled out her sketch pad, turning to a partially drawn flower garden. Rose took a deep breath before carefully placing her pencil on the pad and started to sketch out another flower petal. 

After some time, about a couple hours, Rose started packing things up and collecting the drawings of the inmates.

"Don't understand why you do this." An officer told Rose, helping her pick up the drawings. "Nothing makes them happy. They're here for a reason." 

"People fascinate me," Rose told the officer before taking the drawings from his hands. "And there's always something that makes someone happy." She carefully placed the drawings in a folder before placing the folder in the safety of her bag. 

"Well it would make me happy if you joined me for some coffee sometime." The officer told Rose. 

The girl was dumbfounded as she stared at the young officer. Sure she thought he was good looking, but never thought twice about a relationship with him. Or with anyone. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. 

"Your not her type." A crazed laugh broke the awkward silence, startling Rose much more than the officer. She looked over to see Jerome standing against the barred rec room, face pressed against the bars.

"Back to your cell Jerome." The officer snapped, and Rose took that as an opening to leave the asylum and head back to the Galavan penthouse. 

When she got to the safety of the home, she noticed Theo staring outside and heard no whip noises or Mayor James crying out in pain. "Rose." Theo called out, knowing it was her who came home. 

"Yes uncle?" She asked slowly walking over to the stairs, so she could lock herself away in her room. 

"We'll be having guest with us for a little while." Theo told her before turning to face her. "I'd suggest you be careful around our guests." He warned her.


	2. Chapter 2

Rose woke up to her door being opened. She was a light sleeper and easily scared, so when she heard the door open the girl jumped into a sitting position on her bed. 

"Get dress." Was all Tabitha told Rose before closing the bedroom door. "And then come downstairs."

"Morning to you too." Rose muttered quietly, trying to catch her breath from her mini heart attack. Rose got out of bed and got dress in a simple dark red long sleeve shirt and a black skirt before cleaning herself off a bit and heading downstairs like Tabitha told her too. 

"Ah, Rose, so nice of you to join us." Theo smiled at the sight of Rose coming down the stairs. The girl was confused what he meant by "us" until she saw what he meant. Six inmates, she recognized from the asylum, strapped to hand trucks. 

"What a surprise!" Jerome called out startling Rose into fear. "Our lovely volunteer lives here!" He started to laugh. 

"My day just got better." Rose slowly went to the safety of Tabitha. She didn't want to meet the hungry eyes of Greenwood, having known everything about his crimes from his files. She didn't understand why Theo wants the inmates, but now at least had a theory as to why her uncle was looking through the files. 

Why inmates? What's so useful about them? Rose thought to herself. She kept her eyes down and stayed near Tabitha as Theo talked to the inmates. 

"Miss. Kean will be coming with me." Rose looked up to see Richard Sionis walking towards the exit. 

"Oh, she doesn't want to go where your going." Theo stated. And like it was on cue, Tabitha's whip went flying. Latching itself around Sionis's throat Tabitha pulled on it, bringing the man down before marching over to him and straddling him. She pulled a knife out and repeatedly stabbed the inmate, going a little overboard with the kill. 

Rose, not liking the sight, looked away and covered her mouth. She felt like she was going to throw up at the sight of blood splattering on Greenwood and Tabitha's face. Without saying anything to anyone, the girl hurried up the stairs before locking herself in her bedroom. 

*** 

"Rose," the door opened without a response from the teenage girl. Tabitha looked in to see the petrified girl sitting on her bed. She closed the door behind her before leaning against it. "Your going to have to toughen up." 

'Thank you for saying that.' The girl thought to herself. "That's not me though." Rose quietly pointed out to her mother figure. "I gag at the sight of blood, the littlest things scare me, and I even get anxiety when Theo tells me he wants to talk later." She looked up to Tabitha with frightened eyes. "I'm the lamb living with lions, waiting for them to turn on me." 

Tabitha gave the girl an emotionless stare before immediately going through her clothes. "Your going on a little trip. I'll be there, but you won't see me. Nothing too bad will happen to you." 

Rose only watched Tabitha in confusion before flinching when she got hit in the face by a black sweatshirt. 

"Just don't get caught." 

Not getting caught was an easy thing for Rose. 

"What do we do with the spare?" The shaky Dobkins came out. Rose finally opened her eyes and stared at the poor innocent man who was nearing his death. She only watched as Jerome walked over to the man, and spray painted an exclamation point. 

"Aaron." Jerome smiled as he tossed away the spray paint and smiled. 

The largest man of the whole group carried the last person and threw him over the edge of the building, killing the man to make a statement. 

Rose pushed harder on her ears, covering them so she wouldn't hear the sound of the man's body meeting the ground. She squeezed her eyes as well as she kept herself huddled into a ball, staying out of view from the ground. 

"Now that's a head liner!" Jerome laughed before looking down and smiling at the terrified girl. "Today marks a new day Rose!" 

*** 

Rose locked herself up in her room as she got her little art station situated so she could start painting. It was that, and to avoid Theo with his minions as they planned for their next "adventure". 

With calming music playing in the background, an array of brushes and paint colors laid on her desk, Rose smiled down at the blank canvas staring up at her ready for a mere imagination to come to life. 

"Ladies and gentlemen, good evening." Jerome barged into Rose's room, startling the girl with his entrance and voice ranging in all sorts of octaves. 

"I guess you weren't taught any manners." Rose muttered as she rubbed her knee that had banged her desk from being started. She was annoyed with the Maniax member, and the image that was once in her head was drifting away from her. 

"Don't you have an better music?" Jerome went to seek out the girl's music source, so he could possibly change to something he preferred. 

"I was going to paint, but now I can't." Rose started to clean up her station deciding it would be best to go over the recent drawings from Arkham. 

"Oh, don't mind me." Jerome had a large smile on his face as he laid down on Rose's bed. He moved around a bit, trying to get comfortable, with a frown on his face. "Why is your bed more comfortable?"

Rose only shrugged as she placed the brushes in an empty mug. "I'm his niece, so I should be comfortable here. I don't know." She quickly turned to see the deranged inmate in her bed. "Why are you even here? In my room?" 

Jerome didn't answer her and instead looked around her room, staring at the drawings and paintings on the walls. "Why flowers?" He asked see that majority of the art were of flowers. 

"I like them." The artist answered sitting down in her chair. "I think my parents might've too since they named me Rose." She unintentionally started to play with a small silver rose ring on her middle finger. 

"Your my flower now." Jerome smiled at Rose before jumping off of her bed and leaving the calming room. Though, he would never admit that he felt calm in that room. "My very own personal flower." 

*** 

Rose took a deep breath as she gathered her things for school. She carefully placed her Arkham files in her bag before placing the strap of her bag on her shoulder and walking out of her room. 

Rose tried her best to ignore the whistles coming from the inmates (mainly Greenwood) as she walked past them towards the main door. 

"Calm yourself Greenwood," Jerome said as Rose stopped at the door. He watched her as the girl waited for either Tabitha or Theo, one of them so she could be taken to school. "She's off limits." His voice deepened as he glared at the older man. 

"Ahh my Rose," Theo smiled as he approached his niece, him being the one to accompany the girl to school. "We have much to talk about." 

Rose was confused by what he meant, but she only nodded before walking with him to the elevators. She stared at her black flats as they went down in the elevator, waiting for Theo to say something. 

"A time will come one day, and I'll want you to be the face of the Galavan family." Theo spoke to his niece. "An intelligent, beautiful young girl to take charge. A little timid, but nothing we can't fix." 

"As much as I appreciate it uncle," Rose spoke quietly. "My view towards all the violence that has happened so far, it doesn't match with yours or Tabitha's." She looked over to her uncle. 

"But you see Rose," Theo walked out of the elevator into the lobby with Rose on his heels. "There are things in life that you'll have to take. Sometimes the use of violence can't be avoided." He hailed a cab for the girl before giving the driver her school address and the money. "Have a nice day at school sweetie."

The smile he gave Rose, it scared her a bit and the fact that he said sweetie. Rose looked up at the balcony of the penthouse to see nothing. She could've sworn she thought that someone was watching her. Either that or her uncomfortable feeling came from Theo. 

Rose thanked her uncle and bid him goodbye before getting into the cab, so she wouldn't be late for school. She had a small conversation with the cab driver, before thanking him for her ride to school and bidding him a good day. 

As she walked into the school building, the uncomfortable feeling Rose had grew stronger. It started to make her worry as she looked over her shoulder, seeing no one following her only familiar sadden faces as other high school students made their way into the school. 

"Its nothing." Rose muttered to herself before dismissing the feeling and walking into the school.


	3. Chapter 3

Where as some high schoolers saw school as a prison, Rose saw it as a safe haven. A place where she was freed of all the troubles at home. 

Theo and his antics: gone

Tabitha and her cold thoughts: gone 

The fact that five Arkham inmates were living at her home: still filling the girl with fear. 

She didn't know that the inmates would be going after Gotham Gazette, and she didn't know they would be kidnapping workers and letting them die early. Both those things put fear into the ginger girl. 

'What if my school is there next target?' She would think to herself. Only Theo knew where she went to school, but that hardly means much. Attacking a school could give them, the Maniax, the publicity that Theo wants them to get. 

"Rose," Rose tensed up a bit before looking to the chalkboard. She relaxed a bit seeing the horror of numbers and letters mixed together, and not some diabolic plan to take over Gotham. "The answer please." 

Rose nodded before giving her answer, and asking to go to the bathroom. She allowed the teacher go through the procedure of how to get the answer as she left the room and wandered to the closest girls bathroom. 

"It's only school," Rose muttered to herself as she walked down the hallway. "Nothing too horri-"

"Attention all students and staff," Rose froze up hearing the principal speak through the intercom. "We'll be initiating a lock down-"

Rose's thoughts got ahead of her, hearing the two terrifying words: lock down. 'Lock down means that someone is in the building, and they shouldn't be here which means they're a threat' 

She started breathing heavily, thinking the worse possible situations. 'Jerome and the others! They're here and they're going to shoot up the ent-' 

She let out a screech and jumped a bit, turning around to see one of the older teachers in the building. 

"Miss," the elder spoke calmly. "You need to get inside for the drill." 

Rose felt herself relax a bit, following the smaller lady into her empty classroom and sat down in a corner away from the door and the windows. 

'A drill,' Rose mentally assured herself. 'It's only a drill.'

"Are you ok?" The teacher asked quietly, taking the drill seriously. She wanted to make sure that Rose was ok though, seeing that the teenager might've been having a panic attack or some mental breakdown, and that she screeched at the touch of the teacher.

"Yeah, and paranoid that's all." Rose stumbled over the words and looked down to her shoes. 'A drill this time, but maybe not next time.'

*** 

There was a taxi cab already waiting for Rose when she left the school building. When Theo got out of the cab, Rose slowed her pace down. 'Why is he here? Isn't there something more important for him to do?'

"My sweet Rose," Theo smiled as he held the door open for Rose, letting her get in first," How was school?" He closed the door behind them when they both were in the taxi. 

"Fine." Rose told him not making eye contact with him. She felt uncomfortable with the silence filling the backseat of the cab, as well as Theo's presence. She wanted to know his motives for taking a taxi cab, and picking her up from school. Increase his fame with the city? 

That thought quickly went away when the taxi cab pulled up to their building. Rose was quick to get out of the cab and head to the elevator. The school work weighing her bag down surprisingly made Rose eager to get a start on it. 

It was either that or overhear Theo talking with his group, and there was no way Rose was going to get involve with that. She hated that Tabitha forced her to witness the deaths of some men already. All the ginger girl wanted was some peace and quiet as well as-

"What are you two doing in my room?" Rose questioned seeing Greenwood and Jerome standing by her dresser.

Both inmates were quick to look to Rose, and Greenwood had hid something behind his back while Jerome blocked something. 

The idea of Rose having separation from the inmates was never going to happen now. 

"I didn't do anything," Jerome stated, holding his hands up in surrender before pointing an accusing finger at Greenwood. "He came in here and I just thought I would get him out." 

Rose looked between them both with a mixed look of shock and confusion on her face. "Can you both just please leave?" 

A smile that made Rose uncomfortable appeared on Greenwood's face as he nodded and tossed something towards the girl's dresser. 

Rose had caught glimpse, and felt her face heat up realizing that they had went through her underwear and bra drawer. She was quick to put space between her and the inmate as he left her room 

"I-"

"Just please leave." Rose quickly interrupted Jerome. She kept her head down already dropping her school bag on the floor and taking her shoes off. When she heard the noise of her door closing, Rose hurried over to her dresser and stuffed the black underwear into the opened drawer before slamming it shut. 

***

"I didn't think that rules had to be made around here." Tabitha stated as she and Theo stood in front of the male inmates. "Rosie is off limits." She growled. 

Rose watched the two adults from the staircase, her presence unknown to them as she watched and listen to them make some ground rules. 

She was quick to tell Tabitha about Greenwood and Jerome in her room, and Greenwood with her underwear. She may have seemed like some snitch, but Rose would take being a snitch any day if it meant to keep her room, her privacy, closed off from the inmates. 

"If she's alone, you don't go near her. Her room is off limits and that includes her stuff." Tabitha sent Greenwood a hostile glare, most likely planning his death if she was lucky enough to be the one to take his life.

"Now, now Tabitha," Theo calmly told his sister before looking to the inmates. "Rose is technically still a volunteer therapist, so that means any relation with her is crossing the line." 

"In my defense," Jerome raised his hand before pointing over at Greenwood. "I was only in there to get him out and to leave her stuff alone." 

"And also hiding the fact that one of her dresser drawers were opened." Tabitha stated before adjusting her posture. "You sure you weren't doing anything in there as well?" 

Rose watch in amaze as Jerome's face contorted into anger at Tabitha's words, like he couldn't believe that such thoughts were in her head. 

Having enough with the conversation, Rose quietly stood up and headed up the stairs to her bedroom. She turned her radio on, playing her usual calming music before sitting at her desk to finish up that last of her homework. 

She wasn't sure how much time had pass between her leaving the stairs and entering her room, but later that evening the girl had flinched a bit when hearing her door open. 

"You seriously need to work on that." 

"You technically shouldn't be in here." Rose quietly stated seeing Jerome carefully close her door. "I think Tabitha made it clear-"

"I didn't think a sweet girl like you would listen in on conversations." Jerome smiled at the "bad" thing Rose had done. 

Rose placed her pencil down on her desk before closing her textbook up and turning to face Jerome, preparing herself for the conversation coming to her. "The lecture that was given to you, was about me, so I think I had every right to listen in." 

Jerome rolled his eyes before laying down on her bed and staring up at her ceiling. "Your so paranoid, that mommy and daddy need to protect you from the very people living with you."

Rose had opened her mouth to either correct Jerome or make an argument, but she slowly closed her mouth when nothing came to mind.

He was right. She was paranoid that sometime in the middle of the night, Greenwood would enter her room, kill her and feast upon her; or that Dobkins, although she has low expectations that it would happen, would rape her in the middle of the night; or maybe Jerome, at that current moment, would completely change his demeanor and murder her in her own room. 

"Hey-"

"Don't touch me." Rose was quick to say that to Jerome when she felt his touch. "Just get away." She spat out. She didn't mean to come off as harsh as she interpret Jerome to assume, but it just happened that way. 

She took a deep breath before rubbing her face and pulling her legs up onto her chair as Jerome slowly backed away from her. 

"So I-" 

"Just get out."


	4. Chapter 4

Rose stared at the news that was being played. The news anchorman was reporting of some murder before it switched to another crime being shown by another anchorman.

"I thought you hated the news." Rose knew it was Tabitha when she heard heels clicking get louder.

"I do," Rose responded muting the tv so she could be focus on her conversation with Tabitha. "Why do you think they only show the crimes?" She looked over to an emotionless Tabitha, not surprise one bit that the woman didn't really seem to care.

"I saw that your school was having some thing." Tabitha walked over to Rose and sat down next to her. "Are you going?"

Rose knew of the thing that Tabitha was talking about. It was an all school formal dance, something to distract all the teens from the crime stricken city they live in.

To answer the woman's question, Rose shook her head no. "I don't do crowds." That wasn't the only reason. Her little voice was telling her that Theo could take that as an opportunity, and have the Maniax attack the dance. It was telling her that she would be one of the many victims there, and that staying home with her paints was a safer option.

"Think about it, a stupid dance to make everything seem better. It's stupid." Rose told Tabitha, seeing a smile on the woman's face.

"Glad we both agree on something." Rose watched as Tabitha walked away. She chewed on the inside of her cheek before looking back at the silent tv. She turned it off before walking to her bed and just sat there.

'Look at me,' She thought to herself. 'A Friday night and I'm at home.' She was unsure of what she should be doing at the moment. She had no inspiration to draw anything, she didn't have plans with anyone, and she most certainly didn't want to go downstairs where Theo's little project was.

She was tempted to go find Tabitha, and see if she would like to have a little one on one time together. Female to female. Last time she did that though, she had the hopes they would either go to the mall, get nails done, or even just sit at home and just talk with each other. Instead, Tabitha took the opportunity to teach Rose on how to throw knives, the proper way to kill someone with a knife, and teach Rose how to shoot a gun.

Needless to say, that was the last time Rose asked Tabitha for one on one time. Considering she was tempted to talk to Tabitha about that made her realize how desperate she was to have a normal Friday night.

Nothing to draw, no one to hang out with, no urge to examine drawings; Rose was bored. She fell backwards on her bed, staring straight at the ceiling with childish flower stickers on them.

"What are you doing?"

"Staring at the flowers." Rose answered the unknown voice. "There's nothing much for me to do."

A familiar cackle startled Rose to sitting upward as she stared at Jerome who quietly closed the door behind him before leaning against it.

"What if we snuck out of here?" Rose stared at Jerome with wide eyes, finding it unbelievable that he would suggest something like that. "What? I'm not suggesting murder." He paused for a minute, thinking about the idea of killing someone. "Yet."

Rose shook her head no before pulling her legs to her chest. She shuddered at the idea of killing someone, taking an innocents life. "I can't do that."

"With someone like Tabitha ar-"

"I can't do that." Rose repeated herself, staring at the wall in front of her. She looked over to Jerome, contemplating as to why he would kill his mother. Aside from learning he did it because of how "pushy" she was, there had to be other reasons. Like other reasons as to why he never participated in the drawing sessions when he was still at Arkham.

"Can you leave?"

"Nope."

"Can you please leave my room?" Jerome raised an eyebrow at Rose. Why was she asking him now to leave, even though he's been in there for no longer than ten minutes.

"Why?"

"I have files-" That set Jerome off to ransacking her bedroom, looking for the files of the inmates. "Those are private files for my eyes only!" She yelled at him while the ginger boy was rummaging through one of her desk drawers.

"Jerome," Theo's warning voice found its way into Rose's room. "What did I say?"

Rose could see Jerome's face as he rolled his eyes in disgust towards Theo's fathering act. Not saying anything, the ginger walked out of the girl's room.

Rose kept her silence as Theo walked into her room, finding the files in her school bag before looking through them. "Don't you find it odd?"

"Find what odd?" Rose didn't see What was wrong. For all she knew, he was talking about on of the inmates that could've possibly done better in place of one of the ones living with the Galvan family. Then again, if Rose had her way, there would be zero inmates living in the penthouse, no weapons and certainly no plans to become mayor before planning to take over Gotham.

"Rose?" The girl jumped a bit, not realizing that Theo was still in her room and was still holding the files. She stared at the man's face, like he was waiting for her to say something.

Was he really not done talking with her? Or what he waiting for an answer to his first question. Did he even want an answer? 

"What's troubling you Rose? You seem bothered."

"N-n-n-nothing's wrong." Rose stuttered out, taken aback that Theo was curious about Rose and her mental state. She would've thought he would've asked something that was related to his inmates, or asked why Jerome was in her room and what was he doing.

"I was just going to head to bed." Rose stated. It was, in reality, her way of pushing Theo out of her room.

Her uncle nodded his head before placing the files down and leaving the room. He bided his niece a goodnight and sweet dreams, which scared Rose, before closing the white door behind him.

Collapsing on her bed, Rose stared at the ceiling. Debating whether or not Theo's whole plan was worth it, and if he really would get anywhere. That didn't last long, as sleep took over her quickly.


	5. Chapter 5

Now Rose knew not to expect much from Jerome. A psychotic 18 year old boy who was put into Arkham Asylum for matricide. When she would make her weekly visits to the asylum for volunteering, she would notice that the ginger would be the one that would hardly participate in what she tells them to do.

She now doesn't know how to feel, seeing the deranged boy everyday in the Galavan penthouse. The same deranged boy that would now try anything to please the girl.

"School's out of the picture." Tabitha told her when she walked into Rose's room.

"I made that assumption once there was the breakout at Arkham." Rose told Tabitha before picking up a book from her bed. She was quite surprise though that it took them, her and Theo, this long to tell Rose to stop with school. "And I'm supposed to stay in here? What about my classes?"

"Soon you'll have a normal life. No more insane people and none of this." Tabitha assured her the girl before walking away.

Rose wondered Tabitha meant. Did she not want this life for Rose? Those instincts a mother has to protect their daughter? The same way she snapped at Jerome for talking to Rose while Theo explained his master plan at day one.

The ginger hair girl sighed and walked out to the family room, feeling slightly terrified seeing all the escapees together and messing around with the things Theo kept around.

Jerome smiled as he pulled what seemed like a samurai sword out of its sheath. "Oh-" his smile went away when Greenwood took the sword away. "Give that back I saw it first."

Rose felt chills as Jerome seemed to have threaten the cannibal Greenwood. No doubt that Greenwood scared her the most. Even the childish drawings of him eating more women scared her. She kept those files in the back and had her teacher examine those.

"No you didn't." Greenwood seemed to have been playing around with the sword.

"Give it back."

"Make me you little brat." The sword got a little too close to Jerome's face, and Rose didn't like how either of them were completely calm. Why did Jerome had his signature smile plastered on his face?

Jerome complemented Greenwood and his "samurai skills" with an unknown accent before challenging him when he pulled out a chainsaw.

Rose quickly stood up, unsure of how she'll break up the two, but Theo came to the rescue demanding for the two to stop.

"Thank goodness uncle-" Rose started but stopped herself when it seemed obvious that she was invisible to all of them.

"We're a team, we don't fight amongst ourselves." Theo told both Jerome and Greenwood as he looked between the two.

"I don't know what your trying to do." Rose commented. "They were put in Arkham because they have problems and most likely don't do well with others."

Jerome's gaze flickered over to Rose before going back to Galavan and Greenwood. It was those small things that made the girl think there was a little human left in the teenage boy.

"And I'm the captain." Greenwood breathed sending the ginger boy a challenging stare.

Jerome dropped the chainsaw before insulting Greenwood by saying, "captain of my foot."

Greenwood went on about how he murdered a dozen women and terrorized the city. In Rose's eyes, he had issues with women. He had then insulted the "petty" crime Jerome committed that placed him in Arkham.

"Everybody has to start somewhere." The younger boy defended himself. Rose took note on how he spoke, and thought it seemed different from when he's speaking in front of crowds or even the few short conversations they had between each other.

Jerome then went on, building himself up while insulting Greenwood at the same time. Rose could hear the shaking in Jerome's voice and could almost tell that a break down could possibly be happening soon.

"I can see that we're gonna have to resolve this once and for all." Theo said and pulled a gun out.

"What are you doing?" Rose felt done with analyzing everything and wanted to be part of what was happening. She felt uneasy when the man took out all the bullets, only to keep one bullet for the gun and made sure it was in a random bullet hole that know one knew which one.

"You all know this game?" Galavan asked.

"Uncle you can't!" Rose finally called out. "You still need them. It's going to be stupid to lose one over one disagreement."

"Glad to know that you care flower." Jerome smiled over to her, making Rose feel nervous and her cheeks heat up. "Ladies first." He breathed and looked to Greenwood to take the first shot.

There was an unsettling silence as Greenwood took the gun and placed the barrel of the gun right against his head. Rose flinched with him when the trigger was pulled and there was the click sound. One round down.

There was an animal like smile on his face as he handed the gun over to Jerome who seemed to have an innocent smile, but was composed. It was like he had something planned out in his head.

"Hey Greenwood, what's the secret to good comedy?" He asked casually and placed the barrel against his head. He pulled the trigger and didn't flinch unlike Rose. The boy remained calm as he answered his own question. "Timing." He had his usual smile, the one Rose would see everyday, plastered on his face.

"And what's courage?" He hoarsely asked as he placed the barrel against his cheek. The smile went away showing the boy who killed his mother. "Grace under pressure." He answered his own question after he pulled the trigger, still hasn't flinched once yet. The smile that was once on Greenwood's face was disappearing.

"And," He slowly put the barrel underneath his chin and darkly asked, "who's the boss?" He had a dark face as he glared at Greenwood and pulled the trigger not flinching at all whereas Greenwood blinked his eyes. "I'm the boss." He whispered and let out a deep terrifying laugh.

Rose, who had enough of this nonsense, gripped her book and stormed up the stairs to her room. Jerome briefly looked at her, long enough to see the frustration and anger mixed on her face when she exited before thanking Galavan in Japanese and taking the samurai sword for Greenwood.

***

Rose stared at the blank piece of paper with a tight grip her pencil. All she wanted to do was draw something, but her brain was scattered. Every part of it was thinking about something else; one part was analyzing the actions between the escapees, one part was analyzing her own behavior, another part was trying to come up with something to draw, and the last part was fixed on Jerome.

"Knock knock," Jerome smiled and walked into Rose's room not waiting for a response from her. He collapsed in a black chair across from her bed and stared at the girl. "You seemed persistent to end the little game earlier."

"Sorry for not wanting to have brain matter on the windows and walls." Rose spat out and kept her eyes trained on the paper in front of her. "Why would you even do that? Risk your life for something as stupid as being the boss?"

"Because I'm proving something." Jerome's fun tone was replaced with a more darker one that made the girl nervous and scared about looking up to see him.

Finally inspiration came to the girl and she slowly started sketching. "Just please be careful. I don't know what I'd do without seeing you."

Jerome let out one of his famous laughs before jumping onto Rose's bed, forcing himself between her legs. "It's not that easy to get rid of me." He moved the drawing pad and the pencil away from Rose, so all of her attention was on him.

Jerome latched a hand behind the girl's neck before aggressively kissing her. The teenage boy within him was dancing a bit when Rose did kiss back. That moment was quickly ruined by the sound of heels clicking against the floor and Rose pushed Jerome off of her.

Rose relaxed a little bit when the clicking faded away and she ran her fingers through her hair. "Secret relationship," Jerome laughed getting the attention of a confused Rose. "I can handle that."


	6. Chapter 6

"We need more food and I need art supplies." Rose had told both Theo and Tabitha as she headed up stairs to her room to get shoes, her purse and her wallet. "And I mean real food. I refuse to eat another donut or something sugary for breakfast, lunch and dinner."

After not hearing a response when she went back down stairs, Rose started looking around the penthouse for anyone.

"Theo? Tabitha?" Rose called out as she walked into rooms and seeing no one. 'Anyone?' She thought to herself, slightly wishing that even one of the inmates were in the apartment. She slowly walked back out to the living room realizing they for once, she was alone in the penthouse.

"Groceries, and then art supplies." Rose told herself as she wrote a note before heading to the elevator.

***

"Would you like help carrying these?"

"Yes please," Rose smiled as she placed her credit card in her wallet before placing the wallet in her purse. A worker walked over, grabbing bags for Rose before following her outside, where the girl hailed a taxi.

The ginger girl thanked him before giving him a tip and getting inside the taxi, heading back to the penthouse.

She looked into her medium size brown bag, double checking to make sure she had all the markers, brushes, paints and drawing pads she wanted. She had spent more time at the art store than the grocery store, creating a hope inside of her that she'll be able to draw or paint something that night.

"Thank you," Rose smiled at the taxi driver when he dropped her off at the penthouse. The front desk man helped the girl carry groceries up, where the penthouse was still empty. She was growing nervous, as it was rare when she was ever home alone. Even for prolong periods.

She played the radio throughout the house, filling the quiet home with its calming music. She still had an uneasy feeling about the empty house.

She was starting to wish someone else was home. Anyone. The music wasn't helping. Sure it created sound within the penthouse, but there was no physical presence that she knew of.

"We're back!"

Rose screeched as she jumped ten feet into the air when the doors burst open as Jerome waltzed right it with Greenwood and Aaron followed behind him. Tabitha shoved passed them, carrying her sniper bag.

"Whatca cookin' for us doll?" Both Tabitha and Jerome glared at Greenwood's choice of words while Rose just uncomfortably calmed herself down. She finally took notice that the timid Dobkins wasn't in the room at all.

"Where's Dobkins?" Rose looked to Tabitha, knowing that the woman wouldn't hold back on the truth.

"Gone."

It broke the girl's heart a little bit to hear that. Out of most of the inmates living with her, Donkins seemed to be the most safest choice to be around, even if there was a small possibility of him resorting to old habits.

Rose only nodded in response before putting the last of the groceries away and heading up to her bedroom. In her mind, Dobkins needed a proper memorial. Or at least something to be remembered by. So with the door closed and music playing and her newly purchased items all in their respectful place on her desk, the girl got straight to work.

***

Rose stared at the painting in front of her. In her mind it seemed chaotic. But then again, she wondered if that's what went on in Dobkin's mind; chaos.

She looked over to her school bag where the files were before grabbing Dobkin's file. She flipped it open, making her way to her bed and getting comfortable as she read through the same words she has read many times.

The door bursted open much later, snatching the attention of Rose from the files. She sighed a bit watching as Jerome waltzed in and closed the door behind him.

"Evening my flower," he smiled grabbing the file from Rose and tossing it over his shoulder.

"Jerome stop," the ginger girl demanded, leaning away from him as he leaned forward. She looked down at her comforter, nervous at the thought of Jerome's expression to her demand. "Last night-"

"So it was all a joke?" Rose squeezed her eyes shut as Jerome interrupted her. She's always concern for the safety of him, as Jerome doesn't seem to make the safest choices.

"No Jerome it's-" she was cut off by Jerome smashing his lips onto her's. Not able to handle it, Rose pushed him off of her before scrambling off of her bed and standing close to the wall, holding herself as she stared at the expressionless Jerome.

"Ok, ok," Jerome sighed before laying down on Rose's bed. "Go on, tell me your thoughts."

Rose didn't know how to put her thoughts into words. How she saw it was, Jerome was incapable of loving someone other than himself. For all she knew, this was all just lust or hormones and she could possibly be dead in a ditch within a week. But how does she say that without jeopardizing her life?

"Your too obvious my flower," Rose stared at Jerome with confusion. Were her thoughts that obvious? "And it's good that you have fear," as Jerome got off of her bed and approached her, Rose could only tense up. She was frozen in place, unable to move her legs like her mind was screaming at her to do.

"Because then you'll know how to survive. Just do whatever am I right?" His voice grew deeper as he got closer to the girl, only inches separating them. "But don't worry my pretty flower," he brushed his fingers against Rose's cheek. "I'll be there to protect you."


	7. Chapter 7

Rose, not being able to handle another day cooped up in the penthouse, gathered her things for an outing. Mainly her drawing pad and some pencils, the girl was going to go to the park.

"Why the park?" Jerome had asked her during breakfast, when it was just the two. "Why not something more fun?"

Rose didn't respond, only poured her tea into a traveling cup before adding sugar and cream to it. "It's not like I'm asking you to join me." She adjusted the bag on her shoulder before slipping her flats on and grabbing the cup. "Unless you actually do want to come?"

"I am." And with that, Jerome pulled Rose with him, so she could she could find him appropriate clothes for the outing.

She wasn't surprised by the messy room of Jerome, with clothes thrown all over the place and his red robe thrown over a chair. She was careful, stepping over a pair of dirty underwear and wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"It can't be that bad," Jerome groaned seeing the disgust on Rose's face after seeing the messy room. He didn't think that Rose was that much of a neat freak.

"Just wear these." Rose stated, handing him a sweatshirt and some jeans. "And maybe a hat, which you might not have." She said while scanning the room. "Maybe just wear the hood up and you can borrow a pair of my sunglasses." She was quick to hurry out, not ready to see a naked man, to get the sunglasses for Jerome.

She stood patiently in her room, sunglasses in hand, waiting for Jerome. It was still considered early to go to the park, but that was what Rose wanted. Soccer players and basketball players wouldn't be there yet, so it would still be peaceful and calm. Dog walkers might be there as well as families taking early morning strolls, but Rose didn't mind those people.

"Well c'mon," Jerome's voice snapped Rose from her thoughts.

Rose was in awe though, of how normal Jerome looked with the sweatshirt and jeans. Like a regular teenage boy. Someone who didn't kill his mom. Some who didn't live in Arkham Asylum to do his time.

"What? Something on my face?" He asked waiting for Rose to do something.

The girl shook her head before handing the glasses to him. She walked past the boy and headed down the stairs. Ignoring the grumbles coming from Jerome, Rose hurried to the elevator so she could get to the park soon. Looking at the time, she confirmed that she would have at least an hour and a half before the park becomes overcrowded with the athletes and families with young children.

"I don't see the big hurry of going to the park." Rose heard Jerome grumble from behind. He trailed behind her, finding it a little hard to keep up with the girl. He was also surprise at how fast she was moving, considering she was in what looked like uncomfortable flats.

Once they got to the park, Rose headed over to a large oak tree that was near a small pond. She sat down quickly before pulling out her drawing pad and her pencils.

"This is why we're here?" Jerome complained as he sat down next to the girl. "I don't understand this obsess-"

"Can you please be quiet?" Rose almost snapped at him. "If you don't like it then you can head back to the penthouse."

There was a moment of silence between the two, unbeknownst to Rose that Jerome was smiling at her. He was amused that inside the innocent quiet girl, there was a way to make her snap. He just now needed to find the bad bone within her.

***

It had been a long day for Rose. She spent the morning in the park with Jerome, they then returned home for lunch and from there Jerome pulled her back out again for a walk through Gotham City. Their walk was going well, until Jerome almost fought a guy who glanced at Rose. That was when Rose decided it was time for them to return back to the penthouse for good.

It was late in the afternoon, and for once the penthouse was quiet. Rose was relaxing in her room, listening to her calming music while laying in her bed, resting on her side as she stared at the wall.

There was a quiet knock on her bedroom before the door opened and Jerome peaked in. He hurried in and closed the door behind him before jumping onto Rose's bed and laid down behind her. He wrapped an arm tightly around her waist before grabbing a free hand of Rose's to hold.

They laid there in silence, mainly listening to the music and each others breathing.

"Have you ever had sex?" Rose felt her face heat up before she snapped up to look at Jerome. She wanted to know where this question came from, and what Jerome was thinking at the moment.

"No," Rose responded slowly and peeled away Jerome's inching hand. "And I would prefer to wait until marriage or until I find the right person."

This cause the smirk that had been of Jerome's face to fall. He looked at Rose now feeling slightly offended by her statement. "You don't think I'm the one for you?" He slowly sat up, slowly scaring the girl before him.

Rose had inched herself to the edge of her bed, ready to bolt out of her room if needed. "That's not what I-"

"You are the one for me my flower," it seemed that Jerome's voice was starting to raise. "Do you not feel the same for me?"

"No, I do Jerome." Rose quickly responded as she slightly fell off of her bed. She backed up to her bedroom wall as Jerome got closer to her. "I just-I just don't-" She was stumbling over words as Jerome got off of her bed, and approached Rose. She swallowed her own saliva as he placed his hands on either side of her, and her breathing started to pick up as he lowered his face down to her.

She seemed like she was struggling to breath, and not a single proper sentence could be said from her. He was scaring Rose. This was the moment she had feared the most due to living with someone like him. She said the wrong thing, and now should could end up dead in a ditch because of Jerome's mood change.

Rose panicked. She felt like she was going to be killed soon, so she blurted the first things that came to mind. "Jerome, you are the one for me," she told him quickly, feeling her breathing quicken as Jerome didn't back off. "I just want to make sure that I'm ready, and that the moment is special."

This had caused Jerome to smile before pecking her lips and jumping back onto the bed. He went on about how she was right; both should be ready and the moment should be special. He was oblivious to the terrified Rose pressed up against the wall with a single tear falling down her cheek. He didn't notice that he scared the one person who had genuinely cared for his well being, and he didn't know that his actions started a wedge between the two.


	8. Chapter 8

It was early in the morning when Rose decided to get up. As she quietly made her way down the stairs to the kitchen, she had noticed that no one else was up. To her knowledge, it was only herself that was awake that morning. And for once, she felt comfortable. She was still on edge from the previous events with Jerome. Rose wasn't sure if she wanted to be in a room alone with him at all anymore.

"You're up early." Rose clutched to the hand railing for dear life as she was startled by Tabitha's voice. "I would've thought you would be up a little later."

Rose wasn't sure of what to tell Tabitha. Jerome had spent the night in her room, and Rose could barely sleep that night. She was paranoid that Jerome would choke her out in the middle of the night, or that he would stab or slit her throat while she slept. To say the least, that was the first and, in Rose's mind, the last time Jerome spent the night in her room.

"I couldn't really sleep." She told Tabitha as she went to prepare herself a bowl of cereal for breakfast. She didn't want to tell her aunt about what Jerome did last night, or how the two have been going against the rules she and Theo set for all the inmates.

When she looked to Tabitha's face, she saw the her aunt was waiting for Rose to tell her something. Like Rose had some deep dark secret to get off her chest. Which she did. She just feared what would happen to her and Jerome.

"Morning ladies," Theo came down the stairs smiling at his sister and his niece. He sat down at their small table with his sister. He looked between Tabitha and Rose, before resting his gaze on Rose. "Everything alright my Rose?"

Feeling the need to get all the attention off of her, Rose nodded her head. "So what do you have plan for today?"

This made her uncle happy as he dove into what he would be having his minions do for him. However, Tabitha didn't buy into that. She felt an off feeling about her Rosie. Like she was hiding something.

Theo excused himself for a minute before going to wake up his Maniax group. This left Rose alone with Tabitha again.

"I don't know what's going on," Tabitha told Rose as she got to her feet. "But I'm going to find out. You can't hide anything forever." She walked away from Rose, most likely to find Barbra.

It was that moment when Rose missed school the most. At the moment, she would almost be done getting ready so she could catch a taxi to school. She would be out of the penthouse for about eight hours. Majority of her day would be at her safe haven, and it most likely was safer than the penthouse. People at school cared about her safety, where at the penthouse Rose wondered if anyone cared for her well being. She wanted to know if someone genuinely cared, not just concern because it was obvious.

"Morning my beautiful flower," Rose tensed up when she felt Jerome touch a bare part of her shoulders.

"Morning," Rose mumbled as her gripped tighten around her spoon. She wanted the interaction to be over with, and possibly take refuge in her room. Would that even help though? Jerome would just find a way in there.

Something came to her head though. "Do you know what my uncle has planned for you guys?" She looked to Jerome, who was now rummaging through the refrigerator. 

"Nope," He said before slamming the doors shut and turning to Rose with a smile. "Thought you could get rid of me that easily?"

Rose didn't know how to answer that question. She couldn't tell whether or not if he was joking, and she certainly didn't want to guess which one it was. She didn't need to though, because Jerome started cackling before sitting on a counter top.

"We can have the whole day to ourselves my flower," Rose had a weak smile on her face. She didn't know what she wanted to do seeing as Jerome would be by her side the entire day. Instead, the girl only nodded before carefully placing her dishes in the sink and heading back up the stairs to get dress for the day. It could possibly be the only solitude she gets from Jerome throughout the entire day.

***

"And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor shall be lifted-nevermore." Rose closed the book she was reading to Jerome, staring down at his ginger hair and pale face that rested in her lap. "The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe." She recited before laying the book down next to her on her bed.

"That old guy," Jerome stared up at Rose's ceiling as he thought for a minute. "He wrote a lot of dark stuff right?"

Rose nodded her head before carefully running her fingers through his hair. "He was known for writing disturbing poems." She had a weak smile when Jerome said that he was his kind of guy. She leaned her head against the wall, staring at a flower painting that was in her face on the opposite wall.

Seeing the painting made her wonder about her parents. Why did they name her Rose? Where would they be if they were still alive? Would they be proud of her? Are they proud of her? Rose certainly wasn't proud of her choice for a romantic relationship.

"Whatca thinking about?" Rose looked back down to Jerome, who was staring right up at her. "You seemed...deep in thought. So what were you thinking about?"

"Just my parents." She mumbled before she allowed Jerome to grab her hand with one of his own.

"Parents are worthless." Of course Jerome would say that. He killed his own mother and didn't have a care to who his real father was. That didn't seem to help Rose though, with his choice of words. She wanted something more optimistic or something that was sentimental. Or even a question about why she was thinking of her parents.

She wondered if she should tell Jerome the truth. That what they have between them isn't working out; that she just doesn't have the same feelings for him anymore. Though, there was the voice in her head screaming at her not to do that. Telling Jerome the truth could be a one way ticket to a meeting with Death himself. Rose was too young to die. She still wanted to finish high school, go to college, get married, have kids, grow old, see her grandchildren and die peacefully. She'd rather not be brutally murdered all because a teenage boy couldn't handle rejection.

And so, as a response to Jerome's statement, Rose only nodded to agree with him. She didn't believe it though. The fear of Jerome held her back from speaking the truth. Fear that he would do whatever he wanted to her, because she knew fear would prevent her from fighting back.


	9. Chapter 9

Rose stared at the blank paper lying in front of her. She wanted to draw something. Anything, but that was the problem. Anything wasn't specific enough for her.

"Hi."

Rose felt herself jump ten feet into the air as she felt hands rub her arm. "Jesus Jerome," she muttered as she placed the pencil down. "Can't you just knock or something?" She turned her head, not expecting his face to be mere inches away from her. "And maybe give me some space?"

"Whatcha drawing?" Jerome ignored her questions and childishly rubbed his face in the crook of her neck before looking at the blank paper.

Rose muttered a nothing before placing the pencil in a mug with more like it, deciding to pack up her desk. "There was no inspiration."

She was completely taken off guard when Jerome grabbed a pencil and the paper on her desk before jumping to her bed. "What are you doing?" She watched as Jerome stared at the blank paper with a confused look. Was he unsure of what to do?

"That prompt." He stated before looking at her. "What was the prompt?"

Rose was confused by what he was saying. "What do-"

"The last time you were at Arkham. Someone said some stupid thing for the group." Jerome snapped his fingers as he tried to remember what the person had said. He wasn't paying much attention that day. The boy was mainly thinking about how what Rose was saying, was stupid and he didn't see the purpose of expressing his feelings on a paper.

"Draw what makes you happy?" Rose questioned, unsure as to why Jerome wanted to know that.

Jerome snapped his fingers one more time and pointed at Rose, smiling and nodding his head quickly before putting on a serious face and staring at the paper.

Rose watched him as he hesitantly started drawing marks on the paper. She smiled to herself before getting up and turning her radio on before returning to her desk. She grabbed the things she needed for painting before she made the defying mark of the first brushstroke on the blank canvas.

***

"I'm done." Jerome had told Rose after a few hours of silence between them, with the only noise being the radio, him erasing and sketching on the paper, and Rose mixing colors, painting, and cleaning her brushes off in water.

Rose stared at her half-finished painting before placing her brush on a napkin and turning to face Jerome. "Let's see it." She smiled, ready to see the masterpiece he's been quietly working on.

Jerome stared at the paper before hiding his face and handing the paper over to Rose. "Just don't-"

On the parchment colored paper, two realistically drawn people were holding each other as they danced. The girl; wearing some type of strapless ball gown with curls cascading down her back and a simple mask over her eyes and the bridge of her nose. The boy; wearing a simple suit and hair slicked back, with a mask covering his eyes and the bridge of his nose as well.

Rose ignored his words as she smiled at the drawing. She was surprised that he did have art talent, but at the same time wondered if it was him taking her art things. "Jerome," she spoke not realizing she was interrupting a rant he was giving. "It's beautiful."

What also surprised Rose was the fact that Jerome has expressed an emotion that made him seem normal. For once Rose didn't seem to fear the boy before her.

"Really?" He watched in amazement as she nodded before quietly muttering where it had come from.

"What?" Rose wanted to hear the story and she looked to him, waiting for the inmate to repeat himself. She wanted to know where a crazed person like him was able to get an idea like the one on the paper.

"I'm not repeating myself," Jerome stated before crossing his arms across his chest in a childish way. A way that made Rose feel comfortable around him again. "You should've listened the first time."

Rose only smiled at him before placing the drawing in his file. This caught the attention of him, as he didn't see why the files were still necessary. They weren't in Arkham anymore. She was no longer volunteering. All this good girl volunteer act could stop.

"It's not some act," Rose told him when he had made his comments to her. "It's preparing me for college." She turned to face him. "Some of us actually do care about our futures you know." She didn't know that she would be regretting those words until it was too late.

Jerome had jumped to his feet and took two strides before pinning Rose against her own bedroom wall. He could hear her nervous breathing as it picked up. The fear was obvious on the girl's face by the sudden mood change.

Rose wasn't sure of what to say to Jerome. Apologizing wouldn't do much, and surely he wouldn't accept an apology either. "Jerome, I didn't mean it." Rose rushed the words out as Jerome squeezed his hands that held her arms down on either side. "It was meant to be a joke."

Jerome didn't say anything as he rested his forehead against Rose's. "You don't say things like that," he spoke quietly and calmly, scaring Rose even more. "Understand?" Rose nodded her head quickly before relief filled her when she felt her arms released.

She held her arms to herself, rubbing the spots where Jerome's hands were. Staring at them, you could make out a faint handprint. Rose didn't say anything as stared down at the marks. She had tensed up though when he took her arms in his hands and pressed a kiss on each handprint.

Jerome rubbed where the prints were starting to turn color. "I'm sorry my flower," he told her before pulling Rose with him onto her bed. "I would never hurt you purposely if I knew it wasn't for the good of you."

It was that moment when the realization came to Rose. This wasn't the relationship she wanted with anyone. She didn't want this anymore. The only thing holding her back, of course, was fear. She feared Jerome at this point, and she was wrapped around his fingers. He could do whatever he wanted, and he would know that Rose would still be there for him. All because she feared what he could do to her. She has seen what he is capable of, and what's not to say that he could do that to his own flower? The same girl he promised to keep safe?


	10. Chapter 10

It never occurred to Rose that this would be happening to her again. She had thought that the only time she would be leaving the penthouse with all of the Maniax members, was when she went with them to announce their presence. She was completely wrong though. Rose should've known that something was wrong when her name was called and both Jerome and Greenwood were getting dressed in police uniforms. 

She looked from Jerome to her uncle to Tabitha before going back to her uncle. "You will be joining them for a little visit to the police station. No one would suspect police officers bringing in an innocent girl."

Rose wanted to argue against his logic. 'No one would suspect police officers in general' she thought to herself. Rose didn't want to leave the safety of the penthouse. It has been weeks since she last interacted with someone that didn't live in the apartment complex, and Rose surprisingly didn't mind that at all. She didn't mind leaving the penthouse for everyday things; shopping for herself, grocery shopping, the park or even getting herself something to eat. Rose drew the line, however, when it came to joining the Maniax members for one of their jobs.

Blood made Rose gag, she hated violence, and worst of all she didn't feel safe around any of the Maniax people anymore. She had at first thought she would be fine around Jerome but after last night's events, she had rethought that idea. There was no place in Gotham that was safe enough for Rose. 

Rose couldn't read the faces of her aunt and uncle. She mainly wondered about Tabitha thoughts. Did she approve of this idea? Sending their niece straight into a massacre? All so she could be part of a distraction? 

No protests could be made, however, because Rose was ushered into the elevator with Jerome, Greenwood, Aaron, and Barbra. She was trapped in a small box with a bunch of insane people. Never is Rose's life did she feel more terrified than that moment. She could hardly breathe as she watched the floor numbers go down. 

"Don't worry my little flower," Jerome smiled as he led Rose to the van that they would be taking. "I'll keep you safe. Nothing will harm my little flower." 

That should be assuring to Rose, but it wasn't. She felt this fear still. Being next to him made her stomach turn. She didn't want to be part of this any longer. How would she get out though? Rose already knew too much. 

In the car ride over, Rose was seated next to Jerome. He had his arm draped around her shoulder for the whole ride over. Constantly rubbed circles on her shoulder while watching the road ahead of them. This could be comforting for Rose, had she been in another scenario with a completely different guy. Her stomach was doing flips and her mind was running for miles. The idea of opening the door and jumping out of the car was tempting. But she didn't have the stomach to handle it. The idea of blood popped in Rose's head and she chickened out of it. 

Panic filled Rose when the car parked near the Gotham police station. She was roughly pulled out of the car and dragged towards the police station. She was tempted to try and talk Jerome out of attacking the police station. Flashback of what happened the night before popped into her head. Rose bit back all thoughts of protesting against Jerome. Selfishly, she valued her own life over the many in the station. 

The time between entering the station and the first gunshot seemed like seconds. One moment it was all calm, and the next, Rose was hiding behind a turned over desk. She had her ears covered and her eyes squeezed shut with her head bowed between her legs. 

It didn't seem to help though. She could still hear the gunshots going off and the screams of police officers. 

"Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop." 

***

Rose was curled up on her bed staring blankly at her bedroom wall. Images of dead bodies haunted her vision. She feared to close her eyes. She feared the bodies that would be painted in her vision. Eyes staring at her, asking her why didn't she just try to stop Jerome? Why did she have to be so selfish? 

"Oh my flowers," Jerome sang out as he walked through her door and closed it behind him. "So, what did you think? Wasn't it just so much fun? I did a good job too if I say so myself." 

"Yeah," Rose managed to utter out while staring up at Jerome. "You did well." She started to hope and pray that Jerome would become bored and leave her room. 

He didn't though. Instead, he climbed on the bed and brought Rose down with him. 

Her breath started to quicken when Jerome climbed on top of her. 'Jerome, please just leave.' Rose thought to herself. She feared the words though. Feared what impact they would have on Jerome. What could happen to her if she said those words aloud. The fear controlled her. Allowed her to lay still through the night.


	11. Chapter 11

Rose held herself as she stood in her shower. The warm water hammering down on her body was somewhat soothing. Though, it didn't help with anything that happened during the previous night. She could still feel him on her. Hands traveling down her body, lips against her skin and nipping at it. And all Rose did was laid there and allowed it to happen.

She turned the water off and stepped out of her shower, wrapping her towel around her body. Rose looked to the bathroom door, making sure that it was still locked. She was nervous about checking to see if Jerome was still in her bedroom. She hoped that he had left already.

Dark purple marks were all over her neck. Turtle neck sweater day. Rose took a seat on the toilet while rubbing her neck. She didn't want anything that happened the night before. She was scared to tell Jerome no though, not knowing what the possible result could possibly be if she had upset him. He claimed that it was an early birthday present, but that thing was not something that she wanted.

Rose had wanted to wait. Wait for the perfect person, at the perfect time and at the perfect moment. Whether she had to wait until the night of her wedding day, it didn't matter. She only wanted to save herself for the right person. And Jerome just took that all away from her. She didn't have much of a say, as she feared any mood change that could happen during everything. Fear. It controlled Rose. Controlled every little thing about her.

She peeked out to her bedroom, seeing that Jerome was no longer asleep in her bed. The teenage girl was quick to grab a skirt, tights, and a turtle neck before locking herself back in her bathroom. The clothes were placed on the toilet seat while Rose sat on the floor with her back to the wall.

She had made a mistake last night. And the night before that, and the night before that night, and so one. Rose's first mistake was allowing Jerome to see how she felt for him. It opened up this little part of her that Jerome could manipulate. Her next mistake? Allowing Jerome to see how vulnerable and scared she is. It let him know that Rose wouldn't dare to fight back. That she wouldn't have the guts to stand up for herself.

Rose didn't know how upset she was until she felt a tear fall down her face. The girl quickly wiped the tear away and took a deep breath. She stood up and faced the mirror. Rose was to go on with the rest of her birthday. Tabitha said that the two of them and Barbra would do something nice. Like a girls day out. Something that Rose didn't think Tabitha would ever bring up while the ginger girl was still living under the same roof.

Later that night, around seven, Rose would go out to dinner with her aunt and uncle. A new sushi restaurant that was a little ways from them, but it was a place that Rose was dying to try. So perhaps one good thing can come from this whole day. That's all that Rose wanted now. Just one good thing to happen on her birthday. Anything to make up for last night events.

***

"We'll be back for dinner," Tabitha announced to the group walking out with Barbra and Rose trailing behind them. "So don't call or send anyone."

Rose heard Jerome say something, but she only hurried to catch up with Tabitha. There was no way that he would even dare to get close to Rose with Tabitha near her. She wondered if she should tell Tabitha about everything. Tell her that she wanted out of this family.

The three girls walked down the sidewalk in search of places they could shop at. Tabitha was the one that lead the three of them into a small boutique. "You'll need something formal soon." Was all she told Rose before showing her to a nearby rack of clothes. Barbra had gone on her own, looking for something that she needed.

"Tabitha," Rose slowly spoke as she looked through dresses. "Is this what you had in mind? After my parents left me with you and Theo?"

"I don't know what your parents were thinking when they left you in our care," Tabitha told Rose before picking out something that was black. "But I don't think that all of this is something that you should know about."

'Jerome hurt me, Tabitha.' Rose thought to herself. She wanted to tell her that right then and there. She couldn't though. Something was holding her back.

Rose let her hands fall to her sides as she stared at her aunt. "Tabitha, I want out of this."

Tabitha kept her eyes trained on dresses, which made Rose even more nervous. She wanted the older woman to say something. Anything to reassure Rose. She just wanted to hear her aunt say something to her.

"You won't be able to get out of this mess. It's going to follow you."

"I don't care," Rose looked to her feet. "I just need to get away." She waited for Tabitha to say something. A small part of her wondered if she should bring up Jerome. How he's slowly scaring her and causing her to slowly fear this innocent looking boy.

"Try this on," Rose stared at Tabitha before accepting the dress she handed to her.

"Tomorrow night, there will be a fundraiser your uncle wants to go to." Road froze up a bit when she heard Tabitha tell her those words. The dress she was trying on in the dressing room was partially over her when the words were said.

Was this Tabitha's way of telling an escape plan? To leave during the fundraiser? "And I can leave during that?"

"Your uncle will be too busy making a name for himself in Gotham City," Tabitha told her niece. "He will hardly notice anything during that time."

Rose stared at the mirror, contemplating what was just said to her. Her aunt just gave her a way to escape. To leave their messed up family. "This is the one."


	12. Chapter 12

Rose stared at the mirror before dabbing on a little more blush to her cheeks. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before stepping out of her bathroom. The night was nearing.

A knock on her bedroom door caused Rose to turn to face it. Tabitha closed the door behind her and approached her niece. "If anything happens tonight," she ran her fingers through the ginger locks. "Just run away."

Rose, confused by her aunt's words, only nodded her head before looking away from her eyes. "What do I do after that?" She figured that the two of them were planning her escape. Something to get Rose out of this horrid life and into a better one. 

Tabitha opened her mouth but was soon cut off by the door. 

"My beautiful flower," Jerome had broken the closed door down. His voice went from low to high before going back low. "Don't you look wonderful as always." Rose gave him a closed mouth smile which fell as quick as it came. She watched as her aunt left her bedroom. Rose was alone with the monster she feared. 

"Tonight is the night," Jerome grinned before wrapping an arm around Rose's waist. He started to lead the girl out of her room. "Gotham will be ours soon," 

Rose only went along with him. Let him talk and talk while she listened. Let the boy hear what he wanted to hear. She was by his side for most of the evening. Until the time came. Time for his little magic act with Barbra. 

She didn't say anything as Jerome, rather aggressively, smashed their lips together. Rose stood there allowing him to kiss her. "Don't worry my Rose," Jerome whispered to her. "It'll be you and me after tonight." 

Rose felt herself shiver as Jerome walked past her to stage. She squeezed her eyes shut and hugged herself close. She didn't want this to go on any longer. Her uncle and his plan, Jerome and his antics, her aunt and whatever has been going on with her. 

Rose stood by the curtain, watching Jerome and his "magic" act with Barbra. She didn't pay much attention to the actual act. Just shifted between the act and the audience. 

"And now I would like to call to the stage," Rose snapped her head to Jerome. She watched at the Deputy Mayor climbed to the stage with a smile on the man's face. 

"By the way," Jerome spoke over all the clapping. "No one is getting out of here alive." 

Rose's hands immediately went to her mouth. She watched as a small knife went from Jerome's hand and to the chest of the Deputy Mayor. She only backed away from the curtains. She could only hear the screams of the audience. A firing gun came out of nowhere. Rose crouched down, covering her head with her hands. 

She could feel tears falling down her face. Rose just wanted all of this to stop. She glanced up to see Jerome smiling at her. Could he not see the fear on her face? Did he even care? 

'He doesn't care,' Rose thought to herself. 'This is what he loves. He will always love this.' 

Time went on, and Jerome had the place under his control. He was on the phone with someone. Rose couldn't really hear. Voices were muffled as she covered her ears. She could still hear the screams of everyone from earlier. She just wanted it all to stop. The killing, the death, Jerome.

"Enough!" 

Rose wondered why her uncle's voice was the only voice she could hear clearly. She watched him though. Watched as he made his way to the stage where Jerome stood.

"I know there is some human decency left in you." Jerome smiled confusingly before pointing to himself. Her uncle must've known about the interaction between Jerome and Rose. How he felt something towards the girl. If a monster is capable of loving someone, then there must be human in them. Right? 

Why wasn't this helping Rose though? Why did she still feel fear towards him? 

If anything happens tonight, just run away

Could this be that anything? Could this be what her aunt was thinking about? This could be her escape. Rose could finally leave her life behind. 

She couldn't though. Rose couldn't manage the strength to get up and run. She was just stuck where she was. 

"I think it's time for our official first victim of the night," Rose couldn't deal with this anymore. She wanted to call out to Jerome and talk some sense into him. If that could even work. "Where is Bruce Wayne?" 

"Jerome," The ginger boy glared over into Rose's direction. He wasn't happy that she was interrupting his big show, and Rose could see it all over his face. He marched right over to her before grabbing her neck and shoving her against a wall. 

"You need to listen to me my flower," Jerome hissed at her, listening as she gasped and choked for air. His hand tightened a little bit with anger. "This is my moment. I won't let anyone ruin that." He released her and only watched as the girl coughed. "And that includes you, my little Rose." 

Still coughing, Rose watched as Jerome returned to the stage with tears in her eyes. If any other sane person was in her spot, they would run. Run far from that monster. But Rose didn't move an inch. 

"Bruce!" The angry Jerome yelled into the microphone. "Where are you buddy?" 

"Kill his butler." Barbra told Jerome with boredom in her voice. 

Rose shook her head, like that would do something to stop Jerome. "Jerome, please don't," she quietly begged from her spot. 

"Ehh, I'm bored. Shoot the butler." Jerome said while turning around. 

"Stop!" Rose recognized the voice of none other than Bruce Wayne. She quietly made her way back to the curtains, watching as Bruce walked himself to face Jerome. 

"Jerome don't," Rose called out, watching as the maniac ripped Bruce away from his butler. It wasn't loud enough though. Not even Barbra was phased by the call of the quiet girl. 

Another shoot out erupted. Detective Gordon started shooting at people who were there with Jerome, walking closer to the clown who had Bruce wrapped up in his arms with a knife against the kid's throat. Jerome only laughed at the sight of the police officer.

Jerome was going mad from what Rose could tell. He was laughing and muttering to Bruce. Probably planning the endgame for everyone. 

"I said enough," 

Rose shook her head as her uncle picked himself up from being knocked out. Jerome had released Bruce and turned to face Theo Galavan. A pit was forming in Rose's stomach. She could feel something bad was going to happen. 

And then it did. 

Rose covered her mouth as she watched it unfold. Tears fell from her face. She felt herself suddenly become empty.


	13. Chapter 13

Rose felt fear fill her as she watched Jerome's body drop. He was dead. Theo killed him. Part of her wanted to run out on stage, to comfort the dying boy. She didn't though. She just froze up. She could barely breathing correctly as she processed everything that happened.

Her uncle just killed Jerome. For his own benefit no doubt. She knew it all along, but this only confirmed her further belief. Her own uncle was a monster. A killer. Someone who only cared for himself. 

The fear grew as she made eye contact with her uncle. Rose started to back away before she turned around and hurried out of the building. 

If anything happens, just run away

Tabitha's words filled Rose's mind. The girl found the strength she needed. She turned on her feet and took off running. through backstage in search for the nearest door. Rose needed to abandon everything. 

Rose ran into a metal door, throwing herself into the nighttime. She ran into the cool night air. Jerked to a stop, and the girl finally took in a deep breath. She released a shaky one. She felt a sob ready to come out, but nothing did. All she kept seeing was Theo stabbing Jerome in the neck. Blood flowing from the corners of his mouth and up to his eyes. 

There was no way he could be coming back from that death. 

Realization slowly came to her. 

Jerome is dead. He can't scare her anymore. He's dead and he can't come back alive. Jerome was officially gone from Rose's life. She was free of him. She could live her life without worrying about him. She could be somewhat comfortable, knowing that there was no way that he could harm her. 

Sure he had made the promise to leave Gotham with her, but a small part of her knew that that wasn't going to happen. Jerome would find a reason to stay in Gotham, and make Rose stay there with him. However, he's gone and Rose is free of him. Now she only needed to get away from Tabitha and Theo. 

Coming from the main entrance, Rose could see people hurrying out and away from the building. She waited for a bit before seeing the man that Theo talked a lot about; Jim Gordon. 

Taking a deep breath, Rose hugged herself before heading over to him while he was talking to another fellow officer. "Excuse me," Rose's voice was shaky, but she had gotten the attention of Jim Gordon. She didn't plan on what she was going to tell him. Does she tell the full truth? Or does she tell a lie? "I think I might need your help." 

Jim dismissed the officer before turning his attention to Rose. "What's wrong?" He asked, starting to feel worried for this young girl. 

"I was-" Rose stopped herself, starting to feel embarrassed about what she was going to tell him. "I had a relationship with him." She couldn't bring herself to say Jerome's name out loud. "The one who was killed."

"Jerome Valeska?" Gordon found it hard to believe that Jerome was capable of loving someone. Concern filled him when he saw Rose nod her head. He ushered her to a police car, having it in mind to bring her to the precinct so she could answer a few questions. 

"I was wondering if you could help me find a place to stay as well." Rose quietly told Jim, feeling bad that she was asking so much of him. "I don't feel comfortable going home." This raised more awareness in Jim before he nodded his head. He opened the police car for Rose, before closing it behind her and getting into the passenger seat. 

He turned back to face her, seeing fear written all over her face. "What's your name?" 

"Rose." She no longer wanted to be associated with Theo or Tabitha. "Rose Tallman." She used her mother's maiden name, knowing that it would be nearly impossible to link her back to Theo and Tabitha that way. 

Jim only nodded before giving her a small smile. "I'm Officer Jim Gordon," he introduced himself. "You're going to be safe from now on Rose. Nothing's going to hurt you, and I can promise that." 

Rose gave a weak smile at him. She found a promise like that hard to believe, yet it filled her with hope. Like she was on a pathway to a new start for her life. 

Rose seemed relief when they finally arrived at the police station. She followed Jim inside and to his desk. She hugged herself as she sat down in an empty chair next to his desk. 

"So Rose," Jim started as he grabbed some papers to fill out. "Where are your parents?" 

"They passed away when I was twelve." She told him, seeing a look of remorse on the man's face. "I've been living with my aunt and uncle, but I don't exactly know where they are anymore." Or who they are.

"Because Jerome was holding you captive?"

That wasn't true. Jerome never held her captive. However, it seemed best to go along with that. It could be assumed that Jerome killed her relatives before kidnapping or while he had Rose kidnapped. Jerome, however, did seem to be holding Rose captive. Whether he knew it or not, he seemed to be holding the girl captive in their own psychotic relationship. Rose feared leaving him. She didn't how to leave him. 

"Yeah," her voice was quiet as she answered the police officer. "What should I do?" She asked him. She technically didn't know what to do with herself. "I was attending school before him, I have no home, no money, and only the clothes on my back." 

Jim stared at the girl with pity. This girl needed help. She was looking at him for help. 

"I'm scared." It was the first time Rose said that aloud. She looked at Jim with fear in her eyes. "He left a mark on this city, and I don't-"

"Nothing is going to hurt you Rose," Jim assured her before looking from his papers and back to Rose. "You're going to be coming home with me tonight until we can find new arrangements for you." 

For once in her life, Rose felt relieved when she heard those words. Sure she's heard Jerome, Tabitha, and Theo all say it, but it didn't have the same safety as hearing it from a police officer. Especially someone as respected as Jim Gordon. 

*** 

Rose entered Jim's apartment behind him, hugging herself as she slowly stepped in. She stood in a hallway while Jim walked away. She started to wonder if this was a good decision. If going home with a stranger, even if they are a police officer, was her safest choice of the evening. 

"I can take the couch." Rose seemed to be brought back to reality by Jim handing her a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt. "The shower is yours if you want to use it. Whether you need to calm down or something like that." 

Rose only nodded her head before accepting the clothes and making her way down the hallway and to the master bedroom. The shower was connected to it, and she had made sure she locked the door behind her before undressing and running the water. 

When it was warm enough for her, Rose stepped in and just stood underneath the shower head. It relaxed her, feeling the drops hammer down onto her back and the top of her head. She was in there for a while before turning the water off and stepping out of the shower. She dried off and got change quickly before wringing water out of her hair and leaving the bathroom. 

She wanted to see the police officer one more time. Before she fell asleep. If Rose could even sleep tonight. "Are you heading back?" She asked, seeing him make sure windows were locked and checking behind doors and curtains. 

"I still have some business to fin-"

"Please don't go." Rose was surprised by the words that came from her. Never would she have believed that she would have been comfortable enough or have enough confidence to say what was on her mind. Let alone to a stranger. 

Jim could see the fear all over Rose's face. Whatever and wherever she came from, it petrified the girl and scarred her. Possibly for life. Wanting her to feel safe for the first time, Jim nodded his head and escorted her to the bed. He practically tucked the girl in and was about to leave before he felt a tug on his jacket.

"Please stay," He heard Rose quietly say. "It feels safer." 

And so, Jim called Harvey, explain his situation before ending the call. He had changed into his own pajamas for the night, grabbed a few pillows and blankets before falling asleep on the floor. 

As for Rose, she had fallen asleep quickly. For once, ever since the inmates started living at the penthouse, and surprisingly after all the events that happened earlier, Rose fell into a peaceful sleep. She for once felt safe, and she no longer had anything to fear for herself. Jerome was gone. Tabitha and Theo were somewhere with Rose out of their mind, and she was ok with that. Rose could have a new start. She could possibly and hopefully finish up with a normal life. One that she felt safe with.


End file.
